CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: KQ2M
Operator(s): KQ2M
Station: KQ2M
Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 5.8
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 0
40: 0
20: 209
15: 642
10: 1
------------
Total: 852 Prefixes = 546 Total Score = 1,126,944
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
After being severely ill and missing both modes of CQWW and ARRLDX (the best
condx of Cycle 24) I doubted that I would be able to get on for WPXSSB, my
favorite contest. But on Saturday evening I was feeling a little better and
well enough to go down to the shack and try to operate for a little while. I
chose low activity - low rate hours to operate. Saturday evening on 15 had a
good opening to JA and A71BX called in - the opening was brief and then I tried
20 for what I hoped would be a good opening to Central Asia, but I was able to
work a few Middle Eastern stations ( tnx A65BP and A61ZX ), a few UA9/0's,
UK8OM and mostly Southern EU stations. I was very tired and went qrt at
0236z.
I got on 20 SSB at 1143z and mostly struggled - there were some loud JA's but
not many. The EU opening was very marginal - I did not realize that there had
been a solar flare overnight. With the K=4, 10 was completely dead, so I tried
to run on 15. 15 was mostly quiet - not a good sign for a band that should have
been wide open. ( On Saturday I had made my one qso on 10 - I used DX Summit to
find 7QAA. 10 was wide open at the time but I was not feeling well enough to
run. ) I had hoped that 10 would be open on Sunday. Nope.
Since it was Sunday morning and I was fresh meat, I expected a pileup. Not much
happened until the big EU multis found me - then all of a sudden the average
signal strength increased from S7 to S9 +20!! The fact that 5 of them found me
almost simultaneously made it clear that I had been spotted. :-)
The rate soared to about 350 for the last 10 and I had a 211 hour - one of my
best ever in WPXSSB. 200+ hours are very tough and quite rare from stateside
when you have to copy the serial numbers from a lot of weak stations in qrm and
heavy qsb. So I was pretty happy to have that experience. I tired quickly and
qrt'd at 1322z. I tried again at 1555z but 15 was dying. I came back on at
2300z and 15 had recovered enough for a modest JA run. The highlights of which
was getting called by Champ, XW1IC on a second band and 7QAA calling me in the
NULL of my 15 elements pointed at Japan, for band #3 in the contest! Given my
choice of hours to operate with somewhat marginal conditions, I was pleasantly
surprised to make 852 q's in 5.8 hours for a 147 average!
During the contest I noted a frequent loud swishing sound on 15 primarily in
the lower part of the band - it would come up on me and move up in frequency
until it was gone and then would repeat every minute or so. Very annoying.
Also, there was a frequent appearance of what sounded a lot like the old
Russian woodpecker - but weaker and not quite as wideband. Both of these forms
of qrm were very persistent and I observed them for many hours on Sunday on 15.
Hopefully something can be done about them.
I wish that I could have operated longer in my favorite contest but I was not
well enough to do so. Still, it was great to get on in a contest for the first
time since IARU - WRTC last July and say hello to so many friends! I claimed SO
Assisted since I used DX Summit to find 7QAA and two of my friends to get them
the rare KQ2 mult.
Thanks for all the qso's! I hope to be well enough to get on for a few hours
in WPXCW. Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all! 73 Bob KQ2M
kq2m@kq2m.com
www.kq2m.com
www.rlsfinancialgroup.com
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